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RT journalist shot and wounded in Moscow restaurant
Published: 18 October, 2010, 11:42
Edited: 19 October, 2010, 12:47
TAGS: Crime, Scandal, Russia, Mass media, Prime Time Russia
RT journalist Natalya Arkhiptseva was shot in the foot by a fellow customer in an upscale Moscow restaurant.
 Natalia Arhiptseva |
The incident happened on October 9, but was not made public for over a week because of the investigation.
Natalya, who is still in the hospital, said she was insulted by a drunken man while she was sitting in Prado Café in downtown Moscow. She reprimanded him and in response he drew a pistol and fired, wounding her left foot.
“I asked the café management to call security, and then started ringing my friends,” Natalya recalled. “They called the police and the ambulance. I wasn’t panicking, just sitting calmly. I realized that if I attract unnecessary attention, I may be shot in the head again.”
Natalya told RT that the management was less than willing to help her.
“The café staff wasn’t interested in how I was feeling. They asked me if I wanted a tea or a coffee. When the doctors arrived and one of them pulled off my shoe to see a wound, the café manager said, ‘Could you please not do it here, my clients are eating,’” Natalya said.
The suspect, Sergey Virolainen, 35, was detained by police and later released on parole. He was charged with hooliganism. If found guilty, he could face up to two years in prison.
He may also be charged with illegal possession of a firearm. The pistol he used was a non-lethal Makarych, which can fire tear gas or rubber bullets. However, the bullet that wounded the journalist was metal, which apparently means the weapon was modified to fire live rounds.
The head of RT, Margarita Simonyan, said in a statement that the channel will closely monitor the investigation and do its best to ensure the proper punishment of Virolainen, reportedly a relative of a high-ranking official in St. Petersburg. In her blog, she also condemned the restaurant’s managers for poor security and lack of compassion toward the victim.
Russian officials were also outraged by the incident.
“I was shocked by the cruelty of the man,” said Aleksandr Torshin, from Russia’s Federation Council. “And it's not happening on the street or at a local market, but in an upscale cafe. It's just another reason to completely ban air guns. We need radical measures.”
Viktor Biryukov, a spokesman for the Moscow Police, told RT that the issue of air guns has been among the most heated ones in the recent years.
“The number of incidents involving air guns has risen dramatically,” Biryukov said. “There have already been two murder cases this year. Depending on the consequences, different charges may be brought forward. In this case, the man had the necessary documents to carry the gun. He was charged with hooliganism, which is quite a serious offense.”
15.10.2010, 22:57
3 comments
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Count Cash
I can assure that Canada has much better justice system than Russia. I can also assure if this crime was committed in Canada- at an upscale café or not—this guy would have been charged with a crime of violence and most of all violence against women. Russia has a long way to reach the level Canada’s justice system. When crimes such as this are committed .Russia needed to look itself in the eye and change some of the ways powerful people act as though they are above the law..
Canadian, I can't fault you for your principles of justice. However, I think you need recalibrate your criminal blame sensors a little, together with understanding that money doesn't always represent just satisfaction in society, and that you can't just try to find someone else to blame for your criminal activities We are not talking here about a little bit of boistrous horseplay or foul language, what we are talking about is shooting someone. And this wasn't some sort or water pistol in a playground, it was firing a projectile in a restaurant that put someone in hospital. Now yes the North american lawyers approach is to try to buy your way out of it, indeed this is the aproach the Russian elite go for as well, but it is unacceptable, regardless if the victim can be persuaded to accept it. Because that creates a two tier system of law, based on the ability to pay, wheras the criminal activity should instead be the only yardtick used to decide on sanction or escape from it, not money. Additionally you can't use the blame someone else approach of pining it on the restaurant, they didn't ask him to turn up with a gun, they didn't to my knowledge bottle the guy. So he was pretty well excercising his own free will. So what is exactly wrong with freedom? or are we saying that Russia is just allowing too much freedom here! The culture of blaming someone else, looking for the paid way out, and pampering the culprit is a little at odds with my principles. Indeed on the last point, like many others, we have seen the EHR (European court of criminal rights) continually reaching into national legislation, including our own to affect pre-prison detention such that the rich kids can continually get out, regardless of the crimes they are alleged to have commited So in a nutshell yes lets make it fair and employ justice for all. But part of that fairness should not be always to demean the suffering of the victim, to look for other scapegoats or to allow money to rule
1. I hope and pray Natalya is recovering from her injuries. 2. Drop that restaurant from my must-see list in Moscow. 3. Spoiled millionaire punk, his next meal being prison food.